Car-stake.



PATENTED JUNE 12, 1906.

C. F. FLEMMING.

GAR STAKE.

APPLIUATION FILED MAR. so, 1906.

Snveufoz 6 Uiouwag To Ml whom it may concern.-

CHARLES F. FLEMMING, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

CAR-STAKE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Ir'atented June 12, 1906.

Application filed March 30, 1906. Serial No. 308,855,

Be it known that I, CHARLES F. FLEMMrNe, a citizen of the United States, residing at Washington, District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car-Stakes, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

This invention relates to stakes or standards used in conjunction with that class of railway-cars known as flat or platform and gondola cars when they are employed for the transportation of logs, timber, lumber, or the like.

It is common at the present time to provide the side sills of such cars with pockets for the reception of stakes but in the transportation of logs, &c., from a source of supply to a factory or market it is the custom to send out the cars without means to prevent a load from sliding or shifting from the cars, it being left to the shipper to fit side stakes to the pockets of the cars to retain the load, thu occasioning loss in time and material to the shipper, as the stakes are not preserved when the end of the route is reached.

The main object of my invention is to provide car stakes or standards that will be adapted to cars of and owned by the railways transporting timber either in the form of logs or of hewn or milled timber, thus economizing time in loading and effecting economy to the shippers, &c.

With this and other objects in view my invention consists in details of construction and combinations to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein similar letters of reference are used to indicate corresponding parts in each of the several views, Figure l is a side elevation of a portion of the platform and side sill of a flatcar, illustrating the stakes embraced in my invention in position in the pockets to support or retain a load. Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section of the same. Fig. 3 is a sectional detail, on a larger scale, illustrating the gravity-latch for locking the stakes in position in the pockets. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the upper end of one of the stakes, illustrating in elevation a fragment of one of the longitudinal steady-rods, the binder-retaining loop, and in section the yoke of a binder; and Fig. 5 is a horizontal section, on a larger scale, on the line 5 5 of Fig. 4.

The frame of a flat-car ordinarily comprises center and side sills A and A, end sills,

(not shown,) flooring B, and cross-frame tietimbers C, arranged across the frame at intervals of its length. As so constructed it is usual to secure to the side sills A pockets D, of cast or malleable metal, to receive the lower ends of the stakes. I

In transporting logs or timber it has been the custom to send the flat or gondola cars to the source of supply, where the shipper provides stakes to fit the pockets D, thus costing both time and material, and too often the extemporized stakes from hasty or faulty fitting project beyond the side limit or gage of a car, endangering the load of that car, if not the train, from liability of encountering the structure of a bridge or culvert or cars occupying adjacent tracks or sidings.

In carrying out my invention I provide stout stakes or standards E, wedged shape at the lower end to fit the usually tapered pockets D of the side sills, said stakes being uniformly constructed and interchangeable, as will be understood.

Each stake is provided at its lower end with a latch E, having the form of an open link, the upper end bar 6 of which passes freely through a horizontal perforation e in the stake at a point 'just above the top of the pocket D. From the upper end bar 6 the side bars of the latch have an outward curve, said side bars passing thence downward and fitting snugly the sides of the pocket D, the lower end of the side bars of the link being curved inward, so that the lower end bar 6 will lie within a notch e ,for1ned in the lower end of the stake. (See Fig. 3.)- Owing to the shape given the latch and to the position of its pivotal point the lower end bar 6 will be malntained within the stake-notch e b r gravity and hold the stake against accidental dislodgment from the stake-pocket. The stake-pockets are here shown as provided with slde wings d, secured to the sill A by bolts 61. its outer edge a vertical slot E extending from near the top to about two-thirds the length of the stake, the upper end of the slot terminating in an inwardly-extending groove '6 the purpose of which will be explained hereinafter. I prefer to envelop the upper part of the stake in a metal sheathing E to protect the same from chafing and abrasion by the load or the tie-rod to be described, the sheathing being carried within the slot E and forming a lining therefor, as best shown in Fig. 5.

Each stake. has formed in it near IIO Seated within. the slot E to move freely therein is the end bar of a yoke F, which terminates in a threaded rod f. In practice these stakes are used in pairs, as seen in Fig. 2, the purpose of the tie-rod being to sustain the upper ends of the stakes against the outward thrust of the load, the arrangement being such that the tierod may be adjusted up or down in the slots E of the opposite stakes, and thus utilized to confine the load at the top. The tie-rods of a pair are united by a turnbuckle f engaging the right and left hand threads of the rods f, one of said rods being headed within the turnbuckle to prevent disengagement and loss. When adjusted to the upper ends of the slots E the end bars of the tie-rods will engage the grooves a", and thus be sustained in this position, if occasion require, as in loading and unloading.

For retaining the tie-rods out of the way when loading or unloading there is also provided a link a pivoted at the upper end of each stake, its purpose being to engage and hold the free threaded ends of the tie-rod sections when the turnbuckle is disengaged, as shown in' dotted lines in Fig. 2.

When in position on a car, the several stakes of a side are connected by a longitudinal rod G passing through an opening in the top of each stake and rigidly secured at the ends to the end stakes. To relieve friction between the slots of the stakes and the end bars of the yoke F, I inclose said bars in loose collars f as shown in Fig. 5.

By the foregoing construction it will thus be seen that a stake is provided which will accomplish all'the objects desired and at the same time be simple in construction, inexensive in manufacture, and is easily adapted by the various roads to conform to the different conditions thereon in respect to height of load, Sac.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1; A stake for cars and the like, comprising a body notched at its tapered lower end and provided with a vertical slot, a gravitylzlttch, and a tie-rod section adjustable in said s ot.

2. A stake for cars and thelike, comprising a body notched at its tapered lower end and provided with a vertical slot, grooved at its upper end, a gravity-latch and a tie-rod section adjustable in said slot.

3. A stake for cars and the like, comprising a body notched at its tapered lower end and provided with a vertical slot grooved at its upper end, a gravity-latch, a tie-rod section adjustable in said slot, a link for holding the end of the tie-rod section when not in use, and metal sheathing surrounding the slot and stake-body, substantially as described.

4. A stake for cars and the like, comprising a body notched at its tapered lower end and provided with a vertical slot grooved at its upper end, a gravitylatch, a tie-rod section adjustable in said slot, a link for holding the end of the tie-rod section when not in use, and an antifriction-sleeve surrounding the end bar of the tie-rod section, substantially as described.

5. In combination with a car-body or the like, having stake-pockets, a stake fitting each of the pockets, and having a notch in its lower end, a gravity-latch pivoted to the stake above the pocket and adapted to engage the notch of the stake with its lower free end, substantially as described.

6. In combination with a car-body or the like, having stake-pockets, stakes each having a vertical slot grooved at its upper end, a tie-rod comprising sections united by aturnbuckle, the end bar of the yoke-like outer ends thereof being seated and adjustable in the vertical slot of the stakes, a notch in the lower end of each stake, and a gravity-latch pivoted to the stake above the pocket adapted to engage the notch of the stake with its lower free end, substantially as described.

7. In combination with a car-body or the like, having stake-pockets, stakes each having a vertical slot grooved at its up er end, a tie-rod comprising sections united 5y a turnbuckle, an antifriction-sleeve surroundingv the end bar of the yoke-like outer ends thereof, said end bars being seated and adjustable in the vertical slots, a notch in the lower end of each stake, a gravity-latch pivoted to the stake above the pocket adapted to engage the notch of the stake with its lower free end, and a link for holding the end of the tie-rod section when not in use, substantially as de scribed.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES F. FLEMMING.

Witnesses:

OnAs'. E. RroRDoN, ADELE TORRENS. 

